TalentNZ is a McGuinness Institute project that aims to contribute to Sir Paul Callaghan’s vision of making New Zealand ‘a place where talent wants to live’ by testing his assumptions and exploring ways New Zealanders might turn this vision into reality. Sir Paul outlined the reasons why his vision is important in a 20-minute video (see below) filmed at the Institute’s StrategyNZ workshop (held at Te Papa in 2011).

This website can be used as a portal to our other project websites, all of which aim to help New Zealand become a place where talent wants to live. Feel free to contact us if you have any questions.

Our TalentNZ work programme has been structured around four work-streams – grow, attract, retain and connect. You can see further information regarding each work-stream and work programme here.

Think Piece 27 – The Family So’otaga: Connection between home and school (February 2018)

This think piece discusses The Family So’otaga, which is a unique initiative that has been introduced at Holy Family School in Cannons Creek, Porirua. The Family So’otaga aims to educate and empower parents and families to find their role in their children’s education. The McGuinness Foundation Trust funds the initiative with practical support from the McGuinness Institute. You can read the think piece here and learn more about the two-year anniversary event on our blog here.

Submission on the New Models of Tertiary Education Draft Report (December 2016)

In this submission we discuss our response to their draft report, possible strategic policy levers designed to improve New Zealand’s tertiary education system as well as suggestions on the creation of a new specialist university. The seven strategic policy levers were

Bring back the University of New Zealand

Require the government to fully fund undergraduate degrees

Require the fees of undergraduate degrees to reflect the actual costs rather than subsidise post graduates

Put in place more checks and balances

Require more feedback loops

Empower students by creating a student education account (SEA)

Encourage a stronger student voice through mechanisms other than funding

In April 2016 we completed a timeline infographic tracking the history of change across each of the education sectors: early childhood, primary and secondary, and tertiary. The timeline spans from the passing of the Native Schools Act 1867 through to legislative changes that have occurred within the last two years. Working Paper 2016/03 – History of Education in New Zealand expands on the key dates explored in the timeline and provides a historical record for future development and research on New Zealand’s education system. We believe that education, at its most fundamental level, is about growing talent so that people can live happy and rewarding lives; the primary focus should be on educating to live well rather than educating for employment.

‘A place where talent wants to live’ infographic (August 2016)

This infographic explores how to create a talent-based economy. The infographic is made up of four distinct sections:

A comparison between job-based economies and talent-based economies,

A diagram explaining talent,

An outline of skills that meet the needs of a 21st-century marketplace and

An outline of the four work streams needed to create a talent-based economy (grow, attract, retain, connect).

Think Piece 25: The changing purpose of tertiary education (May 2016)

This think piece explores how the tertiary education system could change today in order to foster the development of skills that will be required of New Zealanders in the long term. Think Piece 25 forms part of the Institute’s submission on the Productivity Commission’s inquiry into ‘new models of tertiary education’. Read the think piece here.

#TalentNZ

Recent blog post

by Eleanor Merton | 1 June 2018

McGuinness Institute Newsletter Issue 19 out now! This newsletter shares our updated work programme. Read more about what we hope to achieve before the end of the year in our blog post.

Recent publication

Think Piece 27 – The Family So’otaga: connection between home and school is now published on our website. To read more about the initiative and think piece, see our blog post.